Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has announced he is seeking an opportunity to end the war with Russia next year.
“In October, November and December we have a chance to move things toward peace and lasting stability,” he told the Ukraine-South East Europe summit in Dubrovnik.
“The situation on the battlefield creates an opportunity to make this choice for decisive action to end the war no later than in 2025.”
It comes as he called on southeastern European countries to invest in weapons production in Ukraine.
Overnight, the Ukrainian president said he had met with top commanders to call for a boost in domestic production of weaponry.
Mr Zelensky had also planned to present in full his “victory plan” to the US and Ukraine’s other allies next week during a meeting in Germany.
But that meeting had to be postponed after US president Joe Biden announced that he would be staying in the US due to the threat of hurricanes in Florida.
Key Points
- Zelensky says battlefield situation ‘creates opportunity’ to bring an end to war in 2025
- Ukraine's military says it struck Russian weapons arsenal in Bryansk region
- Ukraine’s Ramstein meet canceled as Biden postpones Germany visit
- Trump secretly sent Putin Covid test machines, says Bob Woodward
- Ukraine faces toughest winter yet, Nato’s secretary general says
How it felt to cross the Russian border on a Ukrainian tank
05:00
Tom Watling
More weapons for Ukraine in 2014 could have avoided full-scale war, ex-Nato chief says
04:56
Arpan Rai
Nato allies could have averted Russia’s full-scale invasion by arming Ukraine in 2014, former Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said.
“I continue to believe that if we had armed Ukraine more after 2014, we might have prevented Russia from invading — at least we would have increased the threshold for a full-scale invasion,” he told Politico.
A staunch ally of Kyiv, Mr Stoltenberg expressed regret at the end of his term over the alliance’s insufficient response to Russian aggression in 2014, which included the illegal occupation of Crimea.
“I worked hard to try to convince Nato allies to do more, to provide more military support, more training,” Mr Stoltenberg said.
“Some allies did, but it was relatively limited, and that was very difficult for many years because the policy in Nato was that Nato should not provide lethal support to Ukraine,” he added.
“If we had delivered a fraction of the weapons we have delivered after 2022, we may have actually prevented the war,” Mr Stoltenberg said.
Britain bolsters sanctions regime on Russia with new trade unit
04:27
Arpan Rai
Britain launched a trade sanctions unit with new powers to penalise companies that fail to comply with restrictions on exporting services to Russia.
The UK government has announced sanctions on more than £20bn ($26bn) worth of trade with Russia since it invaded Ukraine in 2022, and said the Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation would support companies in complying with those sanctions.
“This new unit will help ensure businesses comply with trade sanctions and take decisive enforcement action where needed so that, together with business, we can continue to exert maximum pressure on Putin’s regime,” business and trade secretary Jonathan Reynolds said in a statement.
The government said that the OTSI would have powers to fine companies that breached sanctions, and also be empowered to publicise them – essentially “naming and shaming” the firms involved.
Ukrainian Oscar winner Mstyslav Chernov: ‘I am the first director to admit I wish I never won this award’
04:16
Tom Watling
Six killed in Russian ballistic missile attack on Odesa
04:04
Arpan Rai
At least six people were killed and eight were injured in a Russian ballistic missile attack on the port infrastructure of Ukraine’s southern Odesa region, governor Oleh Kiper said.
The injured were all Ukrainian nationals and four of them are in serious condition, Mr Kiper said.
Deputy prime minister Oleksiy Kuleba said a Panamanian-flagged container ship, the Shui Spirit, sustained damage in the attack.
“An insidious enemy is trying to disrupt the work of the Ukrainian grain corridor, killing civilians and destroying infrastructure,” the minister wrote in his post.
This attack on the port of Chornomorsk is the third in the region in the past four days.
I’ve witnessed the horrific cost of Putin’s war – as casualties hit 1m
03:44
Tom Watling
Local residents sit on benches at a park on a sunny autumn day in central Kyiv
03:15
Tom Watling
A Ukrainian author turned soldier has a stark warning for the West: ‘Be prepared for war with Russia’
02:30
Tom Watling
Navalny ally calls on West to invest in Russia’s next generation
01:45
Tom Watling
The Ukrainian fighting to keep Russia out of world chess
01:16
Tom Watling
Zelensky seeking opportunity to end war in 2025
Thursday 10 October 2024 00:43
Tom Watling
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has announced he is seeking an opportunity to end the war with Russia next year.
“In October, November and December we have a chance to move things toward peace and lasting stability,” he told the Ukraine-South East Europe summit in Dubrovnik.
“The situation on the battlefield creates an opportunity to make this choice for decisive action to end the war no later than in 2025.”
Pope Francis to meet Ukraine’s Zelensky on Friday
Thursday 10 October 2024 00:02
Tom Watling
Pope Francis will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday morning, the Vatican said on Wednesday.
Francis last saw the Ukrainian president on the sidelines of the Group of Seven (G7) summit in southern Italy this summer. The two also met at the Vatican in December 2023.
Zelensky is also expected to hold talks with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni during his stay in Rome this week.
Russia says peace in Ukraine is impossible if Kyiv gets Nato membership
Wednesday 9 October 2024 23:30
Tom Watling
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday that achieving a just peace in Ukraine would be impossible if Kyiv lost its neutrality by joining a bloc such as the US-led Nato military alliance.
Russian president Vladimir Putin has said peace talks can only begin if Kyiv agrees to abandon large swaths of territory claimed by Moscow and drops its bid to join Nato.
Zakharova, speaking about reports that the West was discussing an option in which Ukraine could join Nato in return for accepting Russian control over a swathe of Ukrainian territory, said that achieving a just peace in Ukraine would be impossible without ensuring that Ukraine‘s status was neutral and non-aligned.
Zakharova said that what Moscow calls the “special military operation” in Ukraine was a reaction to Nato’s eastward expansion.
Kim Jong-un makes outlandish claim in birthday message to Putin
Wednesday 9 October 2024 22:50
Tom Watling
Putin’s fall is inevitable, says freed prisoner Vladimir Kara Murza
Wednesday 9 October 2024 22:06
Tom Watling
Watch: Putin hosts Commonwealth leaders meeting
Wednesday 9 October 2024 21:44
Tom Watling
Jailed leader of a prominent election watchdog is on trial in Russia
Wednesday 9 October 2024 21:01
Tom Watling
In pictures: Ukrainians relax in the Kyiv sun
Wednesday 9 October 2024 20:30
Tom Watling
UK facing threat of ‘plot after plot’ from Iran, warns MI5 chief
Wednesday 9 October 2024 20:01
Tom Watling
Mine-like object thrown into Kyiv metro
Wednesday 9 October 2024 19:28
Tom Watling
An unknown person threw a mine-like object into a subway car at Dnipro station in #Kyiv. Passengers hurriedly left the carriage. As it turned out, the mine-like object was a filter from a gas mask. About it reports RBC-Ukraine with reference to a source in law enforcement… pic.twitter.com/AAWhqPTZIr
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) October 9, 2024
The Ukrainian fighting to keep Russia out of world chess
Wednesday 9 October 2024 19:01
Tom Watling
Zelenskyy to seek more war support from a dozen countries in southeast Europe
Wednesday 9 October 2024 18:24
Tom Watling
Russia's Novak says ball is in Ukraine's and EU's court on gas transit deal
Wednesday 9 October 2024 17:49
Tom Watling
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday that there are proposals from European Union partners to continue Russian gas purchases after the end of this year, but that the ball is in the court of Ukraine and the EU.
Despite the war, Russia continues to ship gas by pipeline across Ukraine to other European countries. But Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said this week that Kyiv will not extend the gas transit agreement with Russia after it expires at the end of 2024.
Novak, Russia’s point man for energy, said Russia was willing to continue supplying gas after the contract expires.
“We have repeatedly expressed our position that the ball is on the side of, let’s say, our buying partners and, accordingly, our colleagues from Ukraine, through which transit is carried out,” Novak told reporters.
“We have gas, we will supply it,” he added.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/emmanuel-macron-ap-ukraine-french-paris-b2626413.html
Wednesday 9 October 2024 17:21
Tom Watling
Zelensky attends Southeast Europe Croatia Ukraine summit
Wednesday 9 October 2024 16:50
Tom Watling
Zelensky to meet Scholz in Berlin on Friday, sources say
Wednesday 9 October 2024 16:18
Tom Watling
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky will travel to Berlin to meet German chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday, two sources told Reuters on Wednesday.
“Zelensky will visit Berlin on Friday, He is meeting Scholz first and then President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. This is part of his European tour,” one of the sources said.
Zelensky is travelling to meet allies in Europe this week but was dealt a blow as a planned summit meeting in Ramstein, Germany was postponed after US president Joe Biden cancelled his visit.
Zelensky says battlefield situation ‘creates opportunity’ to bring an end to war in 2025
Wednesday 9 October 2024 15:39
Tom Watling
President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that the battlefield situation “creates opportunity” to take steps to end the war in Ukraine no later than 2025.
“In October, November and December we have chance to move things toward peace and lasting stability. The situation on the battlefield creates an opportunity to make this choice for decisive action to end the war no later than in 2025,” he told the Ukraine-South East Europe summit in Dubrovnik.
Zelensky signs co-operation agreement with Croatia
Wednesday 9 October 2024 15:29
Tom Watling
Pope Francis to meet Zelensky
Wednesday 9 October 2024 15:02
Tom Watling
Pope Francis will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday, the Vatican said on Wednesday.
Jailed leader of a prominent election watchdog is on trial in Russia
Wednesday 9 October 2024 14:39
Tom Watling
Zelenskyy to seek more war support from a dozen countries in southeast Europe
Wednesday 9 October 2024 14:08
Tom Watling
Ramstein meeting on Ukraine postponed after Biden cancels trip
Wednesday 9 October 2024 13:41
Tom Watling
A summit meeting of Ukraine‘s key allies in Ramstein, Germany has been postponed after US president Joe Biden cancelled a scheduled overseas trip, the organisers have revealed.
Biden cancelled trips to Germany and Angola on Tuesday in a blow to plans for the highest level meeting ever of the Ramstein group of Ukraine‘s arms donors that aimed to underscore unwavering support for Kyiv against Russia’s invasion.
“The 12 October, 2024 event is postponed,” the US public affairs office at Ramstein Air Base said in an email to journalists. “Announcements about future Ukraine Defence Contact Group meetings will be forthcoming.”
The Ramstein group had been set to convene on the sidelines of Biden’s 10 - 13 October state visit to Germany, which would have been the first US state visit in nearly 40 years.
But the White House said Biden was postponing his trip to oversee preparations for Hurricane Milton and relief efforts after another hurricane last month killed more than 200 people.
“It was clear that Biden had to send the signal that he was taking care of domestic policy - so close to the (US) elections,” said Stefan Mair, director of German foreign policy think tank SWP said. “I don’t see this (postponement) as downgrading the importance of Ukraine.”
Russian court hands ex-Marine Trevor Reed long sentence in absentia
Wednesday 9 October 2024 13:13
Tom Watling
A Russian court has found Trevor Reed, a former US Marine who was freed by Russia in a 2022 prisoner swap, guilty in absentia of serving as a mercenary for Ukraine and handed him a prison sentence of 14-1/2 years.
Russia’s Investigative Committee, which handles serious crimes, said Reed had joined Ukraine‘s army in July 2023 and “directly participated on the side of the Ukrainian security forces in combat operations” against Russian troops in Ukraine.
It said it had placed Reed on the international wanted list.
Reed could not immediately be reached for comment. The US State Department said last July that he had been injured while fighting in Ukraine and had been transferred to Germany for medical care.
Reed, born in 1991, was convicted in Russia in 2019 of endangering the lives of two police officers while drunk on a visit to Moscow. The United States called his trial a “theater of the absurd”.
He was freed in a prisoner swap in April 2022 in exchange for Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, who had been convicted of conspiracy to smuggle cocaine into the US.
Separately, a Russian court on Monday sentenced a 72-year-old American, Stephen James Hubbard, to nearly seven years in prison for serving as a mercenary for Ukraine.
Lithuania fortifies defences over bridges to Russian exclave
Wednesday 9 October 2024 12:40
Tom Watling
Lithuania has fortified a bridge crossing in the direction of the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, the ministry of defence has announced.
Several bridges are also being destroyed, they said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
“Fortifications will be supported by firepower, in case it’s needed, to stop and destroy the enemy,” they said.
Lithuania has fortified another bridge over the Nemunas River on the route from the Kaliningrad. Fortifications are progressing as planned, with some bridges set to be demolished. Fortifications will be supported by firepower, in case it’s needed, to stop and destroy the enemy. pic.twitter.com/aixkjOJpUs
— Lithuanian MOD (@Lithuanian_MoD) October 9, 2024
Young people sit on destroyed Russian tanks in Kyiv - picture
Wednesday 9 October 2024 16:22
Tom Watling
‘Getting shot saved my life’: Escaping hell of Vladimir Putin’s war
Wednesday 9 October 2024 12:12
Tom Watling
Poland says Ukraine Ramstein meeting postponed after Biden drops out
Wednesday 9 October 2024 11:44
Tom Watling
Polish President Andrzej Duda will not travel to a summit on Ukraine in Ramstein, Germany because it will not take place as planned after US President Joe Biden decided not to attend, Duda’s aide has said.
“The (Polish) president will not go to Ramstein because this meeting will not take place in Ramstein,” Duda’s foreign policy advisor Mieszko Pawlak told Reuters. “(The meeting) is being postponed... but for now we do not have any information on when that will be.”
Zelensky arrives in Croatia
Wednesday 9 October 2024 11:25
Tom Watling
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived in Croatia to discuss “further defence cooperation”.
He will also attend the third Ukraine–South East Europe Summit.
I have arrived in Croatia to meet with Prime Minister @AndrejPlenkovic and representatives of other countries in the region, and to participate in the third Ukraine–South East Europe Summit.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 9, 2024
With Prime Minister Plenković, we will discuss further defense cooperation,… pic.twitter.com/OXMWpl38md
Satellite image shows fire in occupied Crimea
Wednesday 9 October 2024 10:58
Tom Watling
Satellite imagery shows that an oil depot reportedly hit by Ukrainian forces was still burning a day after the strike.
The oil depot in occupied Feodosia, Crimea, was hit on 7 October. The satellite image below is from 8 October.
This morning, there were additional reports that it was still on fire.
Sweden updates its Cold War-era warning booklet to include nuclear
Wednesday 9 October 2024 10:36
Tom Watling
Ukraine's military says it struck Russian weapons arsenal in Bryansk region
Wednesday 9 October 2024 10:11
Tom Watling
Ukraine‘s military has confirmed it struck a Russian weapons arsenal in Bryansk region overnight.
It said the arsenal it had attacked stored ammunition for missile and artillery weapons, including those delivered from North Korea, as well as guided aerial bombs.
Ukraine struck a large ammunition depot in Karachev, Bryansk Oblast, located 120km from Ukraine, with dozens of long range kamikaze drones
— Ukraine Battle Map (@ukraine_map) October 9, 2024
The ammunition depot of the 67th GRAU Arsenal has 65 storage facilities and reportedly contains North Korean Shells being used in Ukraine pic.twitter.com/zgECEkYhMv
Russia claims capture of two eastern Ukrainian villages
Wednesday 9 October 2024 09:46
Tom Watling
Russia claims to have taken control of two small settlements in eastern Ukraine, the latest gains in their drive to secure the wider Donetsk region.
The Russia defence ministry said it had seized the villages of Zolota Nyva and Zhelanna Pershe. The communities have an estimated population of a few hundred residents each.
The two villages lie to the north and to the south of the town of Kurakhove, one of the focal points of military activity on the eastern front.
Ukrainian war tracker DeepState, known to have close ties to the military, reported that Zhelanna Pershe had been occupied but Zolota Nyva was still under Ukrainian control.
Ukraine’s military last referred to Zolota Nyva on Sunday as one of two villages coming under a series of Russian assaults.
Ukraine launches tens of drones on Russia's western regions, Moscow says
Wednesday 9 October 2024 09:25
Tom Watling
A state of emergency was declared on Wednesday in a district of Russia’s western Bryansk region following the detonation of explosive materials, the TASS state news agency reported.
The Bryansk region borders Belarus, Ukraine and Russia’s Kursk region, where Moscow has been fighting to eject Ukrainian troops since August.
Earlier, Russia's defence ministry claimed they had destroyed 47 Ukrainian drones targeting its western regions. Local officials said the attacks caused no casualties.
About 24 drones were downed over the southwestern border region of Bryansk, with the rest destroyed over the regions of Belgorod, Kursk, Rostov and Krasnodar and the waters of the Sea of Azov, the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.
A fire sparked by debris falling in an undeveloped area in the southern region of Rostov bordering Ukraine was promptly put out, regional governor Vasily Golubev said on Telegram, adding there was no other damage.
Bryansk head Aleksander Bogomaz said emergency services were working at sites where debris fell, without saying if there was damage.
Russia's 67th GRAU Arsenal struck
— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) October 9, 2024
In Russia's Karachev, Bryansk Oblast, Ukrainian drone attack on an artillery ammunition depot caused fires and secondary detonations.
Militarnyi notes (https://t.co/Wel83rKHwQ) that the facility is the 67th Arsenal of GRAU (Main Missile and… https://t.co/X2415OeBxm pic.twitter.com/7vkSSBFrUX
Russian drone attack on Ukraine's Odesa region injures five people
Wednesday 9 October 2024 09:02
Tom Watling
A Russian drone attack on the southern Ukrainian region of Odesa injured five people and damaged an apartment building, its regional governor said on Wednesday.
Governor Oleh Kiper said the attack caused a fire in an unfinished building, which has since been extinguished, and damaged the windows and facade of the nine-storey apartment building and windows at a medical facility.
The Ukrainian military said it shot down 21 of 22 drones launched by Russia overnight.
It said Russia also launched three ballistic missiles at Ukraine‘s central region of Poltava.
Regional governor Filip Pronin said the attack damaged an industrial facility, but there were no hits to civilian infrastructure and no casualties were reported.
For the third night in a row, Odesa has been under attack. As a result of a drone strike, 5 people were injured, & a residential building & a medical facility were damaged. In the Poltava region, a ballistic missile strike damaged an industrial facility. At least 4 people were… pic.twitter.com/KoniA8UatJ
— Гюндуз Мамедов/Gyunduz Mamedov (@MamedovGyunduz) October 9, 2024
In pictures: Life in the frontline town of Kurakhove
Wednesday 9 October 2024 08:42
Tom Watling
Russia’s Bryansk declares state of emergency after explosions
Wednesday 9 October 2024 08:07
Arpan Rai
A state of emergency was declared on Wednesday in a district of Russia’s western Bryansk region following the detonation of explosive materials, the TASS state news agency reported.
Local authorities have not said what caused the explosions, but the region has been a target for Ukrainian drone attacks for more than two years.
The Bryansk region borders Belarus, Ukraine and Russia’s Kursk region, where Moscow has been fighting to eject Ukrainian troops since August.
Russia on mission to cause ‘sustained mayhem’ on UK streets, MI5 warns
Wednesday 9 October 2024 08:00
Alex Croft
British intelligence is facing a “hell of a job” over rising threats from Iran and Russia, as well as the resurgence of Isis and Al-Qaeda, the head of MI5 has warned.
A day after Sir Keir Starmer called on the international community to focus on the “malign” regime in Iran, which supports proxies across the Middle East including Hamas and Hezbollah, Ken McCallum said British intelligence has thwarted 20 Tehran-backed plots that “presented potentially lethal threats to British citizens” since the start of 2022.
The Independent’s Tom Watling reports:
In pictures: Locals take in damage following Russian strike on city of Chornomorsk
Wednesday 9 October 2024 07:29
Alex Croft
In pics: Ukraine enters third autumn in war
Wednesday 9 October 2024 07:27
Arpan Rai
The leaves have started turning brown and yellow in Kyiv, marking the war-hit country’s third autumn under the shadow of Russian invasion.
Fierce scenes of fighting have engulfed eastern Ukraine as Russia looks to make gains before the winter snow freezes the battlefield. Residents in Kyiv continue to show resilience despite concerns that Russia’s focused attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure could plunge them into darkness and cold in the coming months.
Ukraine faces toughest winter yet, NATO’s secretary general says
Wednesday 9 October 2024 07:01
Alex Croft
Mark Rutte, NATO’s new secretary general, says Ukraine faces its toughest winter since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
Rutte was speaking at a press conference in Brussels on Tuesday, alongside president of Finland Alexander Stubb.
Moscow’s targeting of Ukraine’s critical energy infrastructure may leave the country facing its toughest winter yet, he said.
“NATO must and will do more to help Ukraine. The more military support we give, the faster this war will end.”
